A night-time measurement of ozone above 40 km

Night-time photometer measurements of ozone concentration at high altitud

Small-business wheelchair to empower people with disabilities in Developing countries

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 41).This thesis discusses the design of a small-business wheelchair that empowers disabled people in developing countries to become entrepreneurs. Disabled people in these countries face tremendous discrimination, making it difficult to find employment and further perpetuating the sentiment that they cannot meaningfully contribute to society. This project attempts to change that, providing disabled people with both mobility and a way to generate an income. It was designed in close collaboration with MobilityCare wheelchair workshop in Arusha, Tanzania and tested by five users in a pilot trial that began in July 2008. Each of the participants was given a small-business wheelchair, business training, and seed money to purchase raw materials. In addition, bank accounts were established at a local wheelchair-accessible bank. The success of this trial proved that the small-business wheelchair is a viable way for people with disabilities to generate an income and improve their livelihoods. Several dissemination strategies have been explored so that wheelchair workshops across the developing world can produce this wheelchair. These include the development of a production manual that will be available online as well as at the next Pan African Wheelchair Association meeting, to be held in 2011. In terms of funding, corporate sponsorship has been determined to be an appropriate way to cover the cost of the wheelchair itself. While microfinance is not currently feasible to fund the start-up costs of each business, it is likely to become more appropriate as it grows and expands its services.by Natasha Scolnik.S.B

Is There a New Form-State? Latin American Notes

En varios países de América Latina una década de luchas “desde abajo” contra el neo-liberalismo ha allanado el camino para gobiernos “progresistas” y para un nuevo papel del estado. Deteniéndonos en particular en el caso argentino, el artículo subraya la novedad de esta figura emergente del estado, analizándolo en el contexto de tres características definitorias: una nueva legitimidad de los gobiernos “progresistas” a través de la negociación de su inserción en el mercado mundial, la creciente relevancia de los consumos populares y la profunda reorganización del trabajo. Retóricas, procesos y estructuras proveen tres puntos de entrada metodológicamente relevantes para la discusión ofrecida en el artículo.In several Latin American countries, a decade of struggles against neo-liberalism “from below” has paved the way for “progressive” governments and for a new role of the state. Focusing in particular on the Argentinean case, this article stresses the novelty of this emerging figure of the state, analyzing it against the background of three defining features: a new legitimacy of “progressive” governments through negotiation for their insertion in the world market, the growing relevance of popular consumption and a deep reorganization of labor. Rhetoric, processes and structures provide three methodologically relevant points of entry for the discussion undertaken in this article.Fil: Gago, Maria Veronica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Mezzadra, Sandro. Universidad de Bologna; ItaliaFil: Scolnik, Sebastián. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Sztulwark, Diego. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Stakeholder-Driven Design Evolution of the Leveraged Freedom Chair Developing World Wheelchair

The Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC) is a low-cost, all-terrain, variable mechanical advantage, lever-propelled wheelchair designed for use in developing countries. The user effectively changes gear by shifting his hands along the levers; grasping near the ends increases torque delivered to the drive-train, while grasping near the pivots enables a larger angular displacement with every stroke, which increases angular velocity in the drivetrain and makes the chair go faster. This paper chronicles the design evolution of the LFC through three user trials in East Africa, Guatemala, and India. Feedback from test subjects was used to refine the chair between trials, resulting in a device 9.1 kg (20 lbs) lighter, 8.9 cm (3.5 in) narrower, and with a center of gravity 12.7 cm (5 in) lower than the first iteration. Survey data substantiated increases in performance after successive iterations. Quantitative biomechanical performance data were also measured during the Guatemala and India trials, which showed the LFC to be 76 percent faster and 41 percent more efficient during a common daily commute and able to produce 51 percent higher peak propulsion force compared to conventional, pushrim-propelled wheelchairs

The Social Context of Injury and the Psycho-Social Effect of Injury in Female Athletes

Background: Social support from within the culture of sport helps female athletes to develop confidence on and off the playing field. As female athletes become more involved in the culture of sport they further develop their athletic identity until it becomes the most important facet of their identity. When injury disrupts that identity it is extremely distressful, and athletes, having invested so much time and effort on sports, are forced to reconcile their injured bodies with the image they have of themselves as strong able-bodied athletes. Throughout recovery participants reassess identity and form a new understanding of body and self. Purpose: This study focused on the social context within which injury occurred and the experience of injury for female athletes to increase our understanding of both the circumstances that led to injury and the effects of injury on athletes’ lives. Methodology: The data for this study was co-constructed in two focus groups and one interview through the lens of the social constructivism paradigm. Nvivo software was used for coding the transcripts, and to develop the emerging themes. Issues such as time away from sport, well-being, sense of self, academic achievement, social relationships, employment and secondary injury prevention were explored. Analysis: Prior to injury the development of an athletic identity, as well as social supports obtained through that identity, constituted the social context shaping respondents’ understanding of pain and injury. Once injured, women’s athletic identity influenced their decision to delay seeking help and play with pain. Injury caused athletes to re-evaluate their identity not only as sports people but also as women, altering their perception of their own bodies and femininity. During recovery the athletic identity and its attendant social supports affected how participants reacted to injury, influencing decisions to return to play earlier than recommended and shaping their lived experience. Discussion: This study found that injury not only challenged the athletic identity, but also the feminine identity. In addition, receiving sport specific support was highlighted as a major concern for injured athletes. Previous studies have revealed similar findings showing that the culture of sport and the athletic identity developed by elite athletes influences them to accept pain as part of the price of high-level competition and pressurizing them to play while injured. Normalization of pain has led researchers to label the culture of sport a ‘culture of risk’. Nevertheless, the social support derived from trying to maintain the athletic identity was still perceived as having a positive affect on the rehabilitation process. Conclusion: Injury challenged the athletic and feminine identities’ of injured athletes, and sport specific social support was extremely influential on athletes’ experience of injury and recory. The social context that shaped the athletic identity provided female athletes with a beneficial support network, but at the same time projected the expectations of the culture of sport such as playing with pain and injury. Their identity was inextricably tied to the culture of sport so that, in addition to feeling pressured to play with pain, injury threatened their entire identity. Social support derived from participants athletic identity was perceived as a positive influence during their recovery from injury but, on occasion, pressured them to return to play sooner than recommended

Parallel projected aggregation methods for solving large inconsistent systems

The Projected Aggregation Methods (PAM) for solving linear systems of equali- ties and/or inequalities, generate a new iterate xk+1 by projecting the current point xk onto a separating hyperplane generated by a given linear combination of the original hyperplanes and/or halfspaces. In [9, 16, 17, 18] we introduced acceleration schemes for solving linear systems within a PAM like framework. The basic idea was to force the next iterate to belong to the convex region de ned by the new separating/or aggregated hyperplane computed in the previous iteration. In this paper we extend the above mentioned methods to the problem of nding the least squares solution to inconsistent systems. In the new algorithm we used a scheme of incomplete alternate projections for minimizing the proximity function, similar to the one of Csisz ar y Tusn ady described in [4] which uses exact projections. The parallel simultaneous projection ACCIM algorithm in [16] is very eÆcient for ob- taining approximations with suitable properties, and is the basis for calculating the incomplete intermediate projections. We discuss the convergence properties of the new algorithm and also present numerical experiences obtained by applying it to image reconstruction problems using the SNARK93 system [3].Eje: Teoría (TEOR)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Libro de embeźar las linguas ingleśa y yudiš: La América’s Guidebook to Learning English and Yiddish and Becoming an American Citizen

This article is the study of a book published by the Sephardic newspaper La América so that the Sephardic immigrants in the United States could learn English and Yiddish and thus better adapt to their life in the new country and even prosper. Its editor, Moise Gadol endeavored to make emmigrating to the United States easier which is why the newspaper was distributed not only in the United States but also in cities of the Ottoman Empire. The book includes chapters on immigration, the law of immigration in effect at the time, warning the readers of the possible reasons for being denied entry, and the questions and answers of the exam to become a U.S. citizen. The last part is a method to learn English and Yiddish which consists of twenty-four pages of vocabulary and twenty-four pages of conversation, all of which is aljamiado, English included.Este artículo es un estudio de un libro publicado por el periódico La América para que los imigrantes sefardíes en los Estados Unidos podían aprender inglés y yidish, lo cual les ayudaría a asimilarse a su nueva vida y a progresar..  El editor, Moise Gadol,  se esforzaba para hacer la emigración a los Estados Unidos más fácil y por eso el periódico se distribuía no solo en America sino también en los países del imperio otomano. En el libro se habla de la imigración, de la ley de imigración vigente entonces, advirtiendo de las posibilidades de ser devuelto a sus países de origen, proporciona las preguntas y respuestas para el examen para conseguir la nacionalidad estadounidense y al final incluye un método para aprender inglés y yidish que consta de veinticuatro páginas de palabras y veinticuatro páginas de conversación, todo escrito en aljamía, inglés inclusive

The incidence and prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus in the UK, 1999–2012

Objectives: To estimate the incidence and prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the UK over the period 1999–2012. Methods: A retrospective cohort study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). The incidence was calculated per 100 000 person-years and the prevalence was calculated per 100 000 people for the period 1999–2012 and stratified by year, age group, gender, region and ethnicity. Three definitions of SLE were explored: (1) systemic lupus, (2) a fully comprehensive definition of lupus including cutaneous only lupus and (3) requiring supporting evidence of SLE in the medical record. Results: Using our primary definition of SLE, the incidence during the study period was 4.91/100 000 person-years (95% CI 4.73 to 5.09), with an annual 1.8% decline (p<0.001). In contrast, the prevalence increased from 64.99/100 000 in 1999 (95% CI 62.04 to 67.93) (0.065%) to 97.04/100 000 in 2012 (95% CI 94.18 to 99.90) (0.097%). SLE was six times more common in women. The peak age of incidence was 50–59 years. There was regional variation in both incidence and prevalence. People of Black Caribbean ethnicity had the highest incidence and prevalence. Alternative definitions of SLE increased (definition 2) or decreased (definition 3) estimates of incidence and prevalence, but similar trends were found. Conclusions: The incidence of SLE has been declining but the prevalence has been increasing in the UK in recent years. Age, gender, region and ethnicity are risk factors for SLE. This is the first study to report ethnic differences on the incidence and prevalence of SLE using the CPRD

Post-Quantum Key Agreement Protocol based on Non-Square Integer Matrices

We present in this paper an algorithm for exchanging session keys, coupled with a hashing encryption module. We show schemes designed for their potential invulnerability to classical and quantum attacks. In turn, if the parameters included were appropriate, brute-force attacks exceed the (five) security levels used in the NIST competition of new post-quantum standards. The original idea consists of products of rectangular matrices in Zp as public values and whose factorization is proved to be an NP-complete problem. We present running times as a function of the explored parameters and their link with operational safety. To our knowledge there are no classical and quantum attacks of polynomial complexity available at hand, remaining only the systematic exploration of the private-key space.Comment: 12 pages, 2 tables, 29 reference